Tiny Thai grill named Britain’s best restaurant

Kiln, a tiny Thai venue in Soho that champions clay pot cooking, has been named the best restaurant in the UK at the National Restaurant Awards.

Kiln in Soho has been named Britain’s best restaurant

Founded by Brit Ben Chapman as a sister site to his hugely popular Smoking Goat, which has since moved from Soho to Shoreditch, Kiln specialises in dishes from northern Thailand, Burma and Laos cooked over an open flame.

Action at the restaurant is centred around a stainless steel counter that overlooks the open kitchen where dishes are cooked over coals in clay pots, woks and grills.

Nieves Barragan of Sabor was named chef of the year

Among the dishes on the current menu are stir fried squid with garlic and chives; mackerel dry red curry; langoustines with kaffir lime and sweet mint; and clay pot baked glass noodles.

Having only recently opened, ex-Barrafina head chef Nieves Barragan’s debut solo venture, Sabor in Mayfair, which boasts a tapas bar at street level and a restaurant cooking whole suckling pigs on the first floor, scooped second place.

Barragan was also named chef of the year at the awards ceremony last night, while Noble Rot in Fitzrovia picked up an award for the best wine list and Raymond Blanc received a lifetime achievement award.

Andrew Wong will also be celebrating, as his dim sum restaurant, A Wong in Pimlico, which recently won a Michelin star, took the third spot on the list.

The top three restaurants illustrate the democratisation of the dining scene in the UK, and popularity of casual dining venues serving Michelin quality cuisine.

Having headed up the list for the last few years, Whitstable gastropub The Sportsman at Seasalter slipped down to ninth place on this year’s list.

Five of the restaurants in the top ten are in London, with Clare Smyth’s Core in Kensington coming in fourth place and Lyle’s in Shoreditch taking spot seven.

Also making up the top 10 were Simon Rogan’s restaurant with rooms L’Enclume in Cumbria, Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham and Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall.